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SPEECH 



OF 



MR. HUDSON, OF MASSACHUSETTS, 



ON 



THE COST OF THE WAR 






FINANCES or THE COUNTRY. 



DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OP REPRESENTATIVES OF THE U. STATES, 

FEBRUARY 15, 1848. 



WASHINGTON: 

PRINTED BY J. & G. S. GIDEON. 

1848. 



SPEECH. 



The House being in Committee of tiie Whole, and having under consideration the biU au- 
thorizing a loan not exceeding ^6,000,000 — 

Mr. HUDSON, of Massachusetts, next obtained the floor. He said that the 
present condition of our country is well calculated to fill the mind with the 
most serious apprehensions. We are, said he, in the midst of a war — a war 
Avhich a majority of this House have declared to have been "unnecessarily 
and unconstitutionally commenced by the Executive." War in itself is at all 
times a great calamity; but when it is commenced without just cause, and is 
prosecuted for the unholy purpose of conquest, it becomes a crime of the deep- 
est dye. Such, I am persuaded, is the character of the war in which we are 
now engaged. It has already sent to a premature grave many thousands of 
our citizens, involved us in a heavy national debt, fdled our people with a 
thirst for conquest, degraded us in the eyes of every civilized nation, and 
brought us to a point where the consummation of our ambitious designs may 
prove the prelude of internal dissensions, more to be dreaded than foreign war 
itself. 

I shall not, at this time, Mr. Chairman, attempt an examination of the causes 
of this unnatural, and, as I believe, iniquitous war. This has been done, and 
ably done, by others. After the repeated exhibitions of the facts in the case, 
the question can hardly be considered an open one. It has been demonstrated, 
again and again, that the Texas we annexed was revolutionary Texas, and 
hence that her boundary was marked by the sword; that she never extended 
her jurisdiction beyond the immediate valley of the Nueces; that her claim to 
the Rio Grande was invalid, and that the resolutions of annexation regarded it 
as such, and reserved to the United States the right of settling the boundary 
wdth Mexico; that Mexico had a custom-house at Santa Fe and at Brasos San- 
tiago, both upon the left bank of the Rio Grande, where our merchants and 
traders had long been in the habit of paying duties to the Mexican government; 
that two days after the passage of the resolutions of annexation. Congress passed 
an act in relation to drawbacks, which recognised Santa Fe by name as a Mex- 
ican city, and that nine months subsequently the Secretary of the Treasury in- 
formed the House that this act allowing drawbacks on foreign exports to Sa7ita 
Fe, in Mexico, had gone into effect, and was beginning to produce the most 
happy results; that we had a consul residing at Santa Fe, when our array was 
ordered into the country; that Mexico had not only civil but military posses- 
sion on the left bank of the Rio Grande; that the Executive apprized General 
Taylor of that fact, and directed him not to disturb those permanent establish- 
ments, nor to interfere with the laws, religion, or usages of the people; in a 
w^ord, that the whole valley of the Rio Grande, whether on the right or left 
bank of that river, was Mexican — a Mexican population, speaking the Mexican 
language, with Mexican laws, Mexican customs, Mexican jurisdiction — as 
purely Mexican as the city of Mexico itself. These facts are fully sustained 
by the public records of this Government, known and read of all nien. 

With a perfect knowledge of these facts, (for we cannot suppose the Presi- 
•dent ignorant of his country's history,) the Executive ordered our army into a 



territory to which we had no just title — a territory in possession of a nation 
with which we were at peace; and there our forces, under the direction of the 
President, committed overt acts of war, by blockading the Rio Grande and 
charging the Mexican lines, before they had fired a gun or obstructed the move- 
ment of our arni}^ by force. Although the design of this war was at first con- 
cealed from the American people, the late avowals of the President and his 
friends leave no doubt of its object. It was commenced, and is prosecuted, for 
the unholy purpose of conquest. I will not enlarge upon this point. A bare 
statement of the case is sufficient to show its injustice, to crown its authors with 
infamy, and create serious alarm in the breast of every friend of our free in- 
stitutions. But I will not pursue this branch of the subject. Passing over the 
causes of the war, and the unholy object for which it is prosecuted, I wish to 
call the attention of the committee to the financial embarrassments in Avhich it 
has involved us. 

At the commencement of the war our finances were in the most prosperous 
condition — there being a surplus of ten millions of dollars in the Treasury. 
And now, after the war has been prosecuted some twenty m.onths, Ave are on 
the verge of bankruptcy. We have consumed the ordinary revenue, exhausted 
the ten millions surplus, together w^ith a loan or Treasury notes of thirty-three 
millions, and are now called upon for a grant of sixteen millions more, to sup- 
ply the wants of the Government during the present fiscal year; and this sum, 
I am persuaded, will be found too small by eight or ten miUions, as I shall en- 
deavor to show hereafter. So that, when the war shall have continued twenty- 
five months, we shall have expended, in addition to the accruing revenue, 
some $68,000,000. This is but a part of the burdens brought upon us by this 
unnecessary war. Our munitions of war, which have been accumulating for- 
years in our arsenals, some fifteen millions of dollars' worth of our public do- 
main given, or to be given, in bounty to our soldiers, and long lists of pensions 
and private claims growing out of the war — these should be taken into the ac- 
count, and will go far in increasing the sum. These are some of the pecuniary 
burdens which a weak and wicked Administration have wantonly brought upon, 
the people. 

War is necessarily expensive, and is almost another name for oppressive tax- 
ation. And I rejoice that it is so; it bears the stamp of a preventive Provi- 
dence, and is calculated to awaken the people to a sense of their condition, and 
to induce a strict scrutiny into the conduct of their rulers. I am glad that this 
war has involved the Government in financial embarrassment, because the bur- 
dens of taxation may reach the grand sensorium of some men who, mad with 
ambition, and drunken with the idea of acquisition, seem insensible to the calls 
of justice and the pleadings of humanity. And I venture to predict that, if the 
party now in power — the criminal authors of the war — had the manliness to 
come forward and impose taxes sufficient to support the war, and sustain the 
credit of the Government, the people would rise, in the majesty of their 
strength, and hurl indignantly from power those who have abused the trust 
w^hich a confiding people have reposed in them. 

It is, Mr. Chairman, from a view of the documents which have been sub- 
mitted, impossible even to approximate the amount which has been wantonly 
wasted in this war of aggression and conquest. The reports of the Secretary 
of the Treasury are so obscure, and his accounts are so confused, that it is dif- 
ficult to understand them. There are some items, however, which are perfect- 
ly intelligible, and to these I wish to call the attention of the committee. I al- 
lude to the army expenditures; and when I speak of these, I do not include the 
whole military establishment, but leave out of the account the armories, arsenalsy, 
fortifications. Military Academy, and that part of the civil service which re- 
lates to the War Department. 



The expenditures for the army alone during the 3'ear ending June, 

1845, were - - - - '- - . $3,155,027 

During the 3'-ear ending June 30, 1846 - - - . 7,454,577 

And during'the year ending June 30, 1847 - - - 33,882,068 

Here we perceive at once that the expenditures of the army, including vol- 
unteers, have, during the year ending June 30, 1847, exceeded the peace es- 
tabhshment of the year ending June 30, 1845, $30,727,041; and for the pre- 
sent fiscal year the expenditure will be much greater. I am aware that the 
Secretary of War estimates the cost of the army, for the present fiscal year, at 
$27,798,448, being more than $6,000,000 less than it was last year; and I am 
also aware that these estimates are entitled to very little consideration. The 
Secretary last year estimated the cost of the army at $27,733,096, Avhich was 
$6,148,972 less than the actual cost. And how was this.? What occasioned 
this increase of expenditure over the estimates which were made when the 
year had nearly half passed away .'' The Secretary would probably tell you that 
the President, during the last half of the year, called out more volunteers than 
had been anticipated, and that Congress created ten new regiments after the 
estimates were submitted, and that these were the causes of the increased ex- 
penditures. I admit that this new force would sM-allow up the extra $6,000,000; 
but still, with this increased force, the honorable Secretary comes forward, at 
the commencement of this session, with an estimate for the army for only 
$27,798,448, being but $65,352 more than the estimate of last year, when it 
Avas too small by $6,148,972. The ten regiments which were created, and the 
additional volunteers called out, could not have served more than six, and most 
of them did not serve more than two or three, months; and if this carried the 
expenditures from the $27,733,096 estimated, up to $33,882,068, I cannot 
conceive how this increased force, called into service during the war, and con- 
sequently serving during the whole of the present year, can be supported for 
$6,000,000 less than they were last year, when they served but a short time. 
Besides, we have already been informed by the Executive department (see 
Executive document No. 2 and INIiscellaneous document No. 14, published by 
order of this House) that the appropriations of the last winter, for the present 
fiscal year, for the army, were $14,014,635 too small, and that this additional 
sum must be provided for. And yet, with these facts staring him in the face, the 
Secretary presents us Avith an estimate for the army this year less by $6,083,620 
than the ascertained expenses for the last year. Nothing short of a disposition 
to conceal the real state of the Treasury, can account for estimates hke these. 
By a report of the Adjutant General, submitted with the President's message 
at the last session, it appeared that the army in the field in Mexico amount- 
ed, at that time, to 24,984; and by his report submitted with the messao-e 
this year, it appears that the army in the field in Mexico amounts to 43,536; a 
fact which will justify the conclusion, that instead of the expenses of the army 
being $6,000,000 les's than it was last year, it will probably be $6,000,000 
more; showing the estimate to be $ 12,000,000 less than the probable expenditures. 

Thus far, Mr. Chairman, I have confined myself to the expenditures of the 
army alone; but if we look at the whole expenditures of the Government, we 
shall come to the same result, viz., that the estimates are not at all reliable, 
being far below the actual expense. The ascertained expenditures of the last 
year are set down by Mr. Walker at $59,451,177; while the estimate for the 
present year is $58,615,660; being $835,517 less than the actual expenditures 
of the last year. The improbability of this result will appear from the facts already 
stated. We have already seen that the army in the field the present year is 
18,500 rank and file greater than it was last year; and there are now vacancies 
amounting to more than 15,000 in the regular and volunteer forces, which the 



President is authorized to fill, and which he is now filling with airpossiblc 
despatch. The Executive has informed us that they have already ascertained- 
deficiencies in the different Departments, in the appropriations of the last ses- 
sion for the present fiscal year of $14,229,844. From every view we can 
take of the subject, I am satisfied that the estimates are from eight to ten mil- 
lions too low. It is difficult and even impossible to estimate the expenses of a- 
campaign with perfect accuracy, but we have data before us sufficient to show 
that the estimates of the Departments are not at all reliable. Though the Sec- 
retary of the Treasury estimates the total expenditure for the year 1848 at 
$58,61.5,114, I have no doubt but that Ave may add $8,500,000 to this 
estimate with perfect safety, bringing the total expenditures of the year up to 
$67,100,000. On the other hand, I am satisfied that the Secretary of the 
Treasury has over-estimated his receipts. He sets down his means for the year 
ending Jime 30, 1848, as follows, viz : 

Customs ------- $31,000,000 

Public lands ------- 3,500,000 

Miscellaneous sources _ - - _ _ 400,000 

$34,900,000 

No man, as it seems to me, can examine these estimated receipts without 
being satisfied that they are exaggerated. If we compare them with the re- 
ceipts of preceding years, or if we inquire into the amount of imports, we must 
perceive at once that the receipt of $31,000,000 from customs is out of the 
question. To obtain that revenue we must import for home consumption goods^ 
wares, and merchandise to the amount of $180,840,021; which would be 
$68,806,632 more than the average of the four preceding years. The average 
consimiption of imports for the years 1844, 1845, and 1846, was $103,067,692} 
the consumption for the year 1847 was $138,534,480; being $35,466,788 more 
than the average of the three preceding years. Seeing the imports for domestic- 
consumption for the last year were $35,466,000 above the former average, I 
am satisfied that the people cannot, in their present embarrassed condition, pay 
for an import of $180,840,021; which would be $42,305,541 more than was 
purchased last year, and $77,772,329 more than the average of 1844, 1845, 
and 1846. And yet this enormous importation must be made in order to give 
Mr. Walker his $31,000,000 of revenue from customs. The principal reason 
why our imports were so large last year, was the famine in Europe, which en- 
abled us to send abroad $41,000,000 of breadstuffs and provisions more than 
during the preceding year; but that cause has now passed away; and to infer that 
we can import $77,772,000 more than the average of 1844, 1845, and 1846, now 
that the famine has ceased, because we imported $35,466,000 more than that 
average while the famine existed, shows a love of the marvellous hardly con- 
sistent with financial calculations. 

I believe that the revenue from customs cannot with any propriety be esti- 
mated above $26,500,000 for the year 1848; and to obtain that revenue we must 
import for home consumption $154,059,861; which is more than $15,525,000 
above the imports of last year, and more than the country can support. In 
estimating the revenue for the present year I have taken the last year's imports 
and revenue as the basis, though that basis is altogether too favorable to the 
Secrectary. Five-twelfths of the last year was under the tariff of 1842, where 
the rates of duty were from five to ten per cent, higher than under the present 
tarifi'. So that, to realize the $31,000,000 estimated by the Secretary, we 
must in fact import a larger amount than I have stated; and the $26,500,000 
which I have set down as the amount to be received, would in fact require an 
import of more than the $154,059,000 already stated. But, as I wish to be upon 



the safe side, I have chosen to adopt the ratio of the last year. If I am correct 
in my positions, $4,500,000 must be stricken from Mr. Walker's revenue from 
customs. 

He estimates the revenue from the public lands at $3,.500,000, which I be- 
lieve is at least $1,500,000 more than can be realized from that source. The 
average income from the lands for the last three years has been $2,423,276, 
and there are causes which must operate unfavorably upon that branch of the 
revenue. By the act of February 11, 1847, it was provided that all soldiers 
who have served twelve months in the Mexican war, or have been killed in 
battle, or have been discharged in consequence of sickness incurred in the ser- 
vice, shall receive one hundred and sixty acres of land, or scrip to the amount 
of one hundred dollars. Some twenty-five thousand of these soldiers have 
been discharged, and these land warrants are being issued in large numbers, 
and these warrants will absorb a large quantity of the public lands, and so di- 
vert the proceeds of the sales from the Treasury. If I am right in these calcu- 
lations, the balance-sheet at the end of the year will be materially affected. 
The case would stand thus : 

Expenditures above the estimates .... - $8,500,000 

Revenue from customs less than estimate . - . 4,500,000 

Revenue from lands less than estimate ... 1,500,000 



$14,500,000 



Which sum of $14,500,000, added to Mr. Walker's corrected balance, would 
make $23,314,036 excess of expenditures over means on the 30th of June 
next; and hence the loan, including $3,000,000 to be left in the Treasury j, 
should be $26,314,000 instead of $16,000,000. 

I regard this part of the subject so important that I must beg leave to dwell 
upon it more in detail. I have already shown that the importations for the last 
fiscal year, after deducting the re-exportations, amounted to $138,534,480, and 
that this exceeded the average of the three preceding years by $35,466,788. 
It must be manifest to every one acquainted with the laws of trade that our im- 
ports and exports for a series of years must nearly balance each other. During 
the last fiscal year our exports of domestic products amounted to $150,637,464, 
being $50,362,848 more than the average for the three preceding years. But 
this excess consisted almost entirely of breadstufFs and provisions, and was oc- 
casioned by the failure of the crops in almost every part of the eastern conti- 
nent. The Secretary himself Informs us that the breadstutTs and provisions 
exported during the last year exceeded the export of the same articles the pre- 
ceding year by $41,332,282. This fact confirms my position that this large 
export arose from the failure of foreign crops. This excess over former ex- 
ports consisted not only in the increased quantity, but also in the increased 
price. But the improved harvest in Europe has checked this export, and we have 
no reason to expect that we shall be able to send forth this year the same quan* 
tity; and the reduced price will greatly diminish the value of our exports. In 
the articles of cotton and flour alone, the reduction of price, even if the quan- 
tity were the same, would reduce our export several millions. 

This European famine not only increased our exports, and consequently our 
imports, but turned the balance oi trade $12,102,984 in our favor. But nothing 
can be more fallacious than to reason from a single year. In 1837 we actually 
imported $4,280,000 worth of breadstufFs; but it would be absurd to argue from 
that fact that we should continue to import that amount. Equally absurd is it 
to maintain that we shall send abroad $65,900,000 of provisions and bread- 
stuffs annually, because we did during the past year, when the famine was so 



pinching in Europe that we sent out Government ships laden with provisions as 
a chanty to their starving thousands. 

k But we need not reason upon this subject. We have facts, official and stub- 
born facts, which show that the tide of trade is ah'eady setting against us. 
The imports during the first quarter of the present fiscal year amounted to 
$50,675,599, while the exports amounted to only $37,937,981, showing a 
balance of trade against us of $12,737,618, which exceeds the balance of trade 
in our favor during the past year of $634,634. The entire imports and exports 
for the whole half year have not been received; but I have returns from some 
of the principal cities, as will be seen by the following tabular statement : 

Imports into and exports from Boston, JVew York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore y 
for the quarters ending September 30 and December 31, 1847. 



Imports for the quarter ending September 30, 1847. 



Exports for the quarter end- 
ing September 3D, 1847. 



Boston, merchandise 


- 


- 


- $8,517,913 


$2,369,125 


specie 


- 


- 


- 1,197,622 


80,655 


New York, merchandise - 


- 


- 


. 31,412,527 


14,607,041 


specie 


- 


- 


547,350 


470,557 


Philadelphia, merchandise 


- 


- 


- 4,186,858 


1,506,959 


specie 


- 


- 


93,868 




Baltimore, merchandise 


- 


- 


- 1,440,770 


2,026,321 


specie 






31,639 

$47,428,547 


4,390 




$21,065,048 


Imports for the quarter 


ending 


December 31, 1847. 


Exports for the quarter end- 










ing December 31, 1847. 


Boston, merchandise 


. 


. 


- $5,526,074 


$2,552,729 


sj'iecie 


- 


- 


147,123 


1,450,445 


New York, merchandise - 


- 


- 


- 13,082,621 


7,703,355 


specie 


- 


- 


199,400 


3,917,359 


Philadelphia, merchandise - 


- 


- 


- 2,020,461 


1,096,901 


specie 


- 


.. 


96,484 


12,598 


Baltimore, merchandise 


- 


- 


846,735 


1,676,312 


specie 






31,410 
- 21,950,308 




Q,uarler ending December 31 


18,408,699 


duarter ending September 30 






- 47,428,547 


21,055,048 


Total 


- $69,378,845 


$39,463,747 



Note. — During the same period our imports of specie have amounted to $2,344,896, and our 
exports of specie to $5,937,004, as seen above. 

Here it will be seen that, takmg these four cities, which comprise more than 
three-fourths of the commerce of the country, the balance of trade for the last 
six months is nearly $30,000,000 against us, and that specie is rapidly leaving 
the country; the excess of specie exported during this period being about 
$3,600,000 above the import. We have had pleasing accounts of the great 
balance of trade in our favor; and golden dreams of specie flowing into the 
country and filling the vaults of the Sub treasury, presented to us by the Secre- 
tary of the Treasury. But we already see that an average harvest in Europe 
has turned the tables against us, and dissipated those golden visions. 

The present condition of the money market, and the general depression of 
business, must reduce the imports for the last half of the year. All experience 



9 

shows that prosperity in our industrial pursuits at home contributes greatly to 
the increase of our commerce; and that we never purchase foreign fabrics so 
freely as when money is plenty in the country. It is true that our imports at 
the present time are heavy, but the depression of prices shows that we have a 
laro-e supply on hand, and leads us to expect that the future imports will be 
light. The pernicious effects of the tariil" of 1846, and of the drain of specie 
from the country to support a foreign war, are beginning to develop them- 
selves. Manufactures already feel the shock. The cotton, woollen, and iron 
interests of the country are greatly depressed; and, with depressed manufac- 
tures, we may soon anticipate a paralyzed agriculture and a stagnant com- 
jnerce. Even if the tide of trade should continue so as to give us a large 
revenue during the jDresent year, its inevitable effect w^ould be to diminish our 
revenue for the next, and so leave as great a deficit on the 30th of June, 1849, 
•ag though it fell within this year. It should also be observed, that the heavy 
importations of tea generally come in the spring, and as this is free of duty, 
no revenue will be obtained from that source. 

A brief view of the finances of the country will show the utter failure of the 
tariff of 1846, as a revenue measure. Though the Secretary of the Treasury, 
and the President in his message, assure us that the tariff of 1846 has aug- 
mented the revenue of the country, every view I have been able to take of the 
subject leads me to a very different result. The imports and exports, together 
with the nett revenue from imports for the three years ending wdth the 30th 
of June, under the tariff of 1842, were as follows : 

Years. Imports for Domestic Nett 

consumption. exports. revenue. 

In 1844 - - $99,950,168 $99,715,179 $26,183,570 

1845 - - 101,907,734 99,299,776 27,528,112 

1846 - - 110,345,174 102,141,893 26,712,667 



Average - - 103,067,692 100,385,616 26,808,116 



In 1847 they were 138,534,480 150,637,464 23,747,864 _ 

Here we have an amount of imports for the last year, of $35,466,778 above 
the average of the three preceding years; and yet the nett revenue falls be- 
low the average $3,060,252. The nett revenue for the three years under the 
tariff of 1842, assessed upon the imports for home consumption, would amount 
to a duty of 26.01 per cent.; and if we multiply the imports of 1847 by that 
rate, it would give us a nett revenue of $36,032,818; which shows a falling 
off of the revenue under the tariff of 1846, from what it would have been un- 
der the tariff of 1842, of $12,284,954. While the Administration and its 
friends are clamorous for a loan of $16,000,000, they should remember, that 
if they had not wantonly destroyed the best revenue system which this coun- 
try ever enjoyed, they would have had more than two-thirds of that sum paid 
into the Treasury; nay, if that system had remained in force up to this day, it 
would completely have superceded the necessity of this loan, and have left a 
balance in the Treasury. Here Ave have a full illustration of the crude, undi- 
gested system of the present Administration — a system which, had it not been 
for the famine on the eastern continent, would have overwhelmed its friends 
in disappointment. If the imports had remained at the average of the three 
preceding years, the revenue under the present tariff would have amounted to 
only $17,624,575, or $9,283,531 less than the average of the three years un- 
-der the Whig tariff. Thus, by the miserable pohcy of the Administration, the 
best interests of the country have not only been sacrificed, but the Govern- 
ment itself has been robbed of twelve millions of revenue at a time when the 



10 

largest amount from ordinary sources would be insufficient to meet the wants 
of the Government. The receipts from customs for the year 1847 have not 
only fallen off $3,060,252 from the average receipts of the three preceding 
years, but they have fallen $4,087,867 below the Secretary's own estimate, 
submitted to Congress in December, 1846. 

But it is hardly necessary to point out the blunders of the Secretary of the 
Treasury, or to show that his estimates are entitled to very little consideration. 
Of this, however, we may be certain — that his estimates are always in con- 
formity with his preconceived opinions, and are designed to recommend his 
owm visionary schemes. In his first annual report on the finances, to bring 
the tariff of 1842 into disrepute, he estimated the revenue from customs for 
the year ending June 30, 1846, at $24,500,000; but the result showed a nett 
revenue of $26,712,667; showing that the Secretary's estimate Avas $2,212,- 
667 too low. But when he has his own darling system before him, there is 
no danger of error on the same side of the question. At the opening of the 
last Congress, he estimated the receipts from customs for the year ending 
June, 1847, at $27,835,731, being $4,087,867 more than was realized — the 
true sum being $23,747,864. Thus we see that the Secretary's fondness for 
his free-trade system leads him into an error of $2,212,000 in one year, and 
of $4,078,000 the next. 

But in view of all these blunders, and in the face of all these facts, the Sec- 
retary says: "The new tarilF has now been in operation more than twelve 
months, and has greatly augmented the revenue and prosperity of the country. 
The nett revenue from duties during the twelve months ending the 1st of De- 
cember, 1847, under the new tarift; is $31,500,000; being $8,528,596 more 
than it was during the twelve months preceding, under the tariff of 1842."* 
While this statement may be true to the letter, it is nevertheless calculated to 
deceive the public, and is so manifestly unjust that I should hardly expect to 
see it presented as a basis of a settled principle in a grave official document. 
The honorable Secretary could not have forgotten that, in his first annual re- 
port to the 29th Congress, he strongly recommended a reduction of duties, and 
this subject 'was agitated for months before the passage of the act; that the bill 
was reported to the House as early as April 14, and became a law July 30, 
1846. Under these circumstances, we know that the importers would natu- 
rally keep back their orders in expectation of the reduction of duties. In this 
manner the tariff of 1846 would operate to check importations long before it 
became a law. And when the bill was passed, July 30, 1846, it contained an 
express invitation to importers not to bring their goods into market until the re- 
duction had taken effect. The 6th section of that act provides "that all 
goods, wares, and merchandise imported after the passage of this act, and which 
may be in the public stores on the ^2d day of December next., [one day after the tariff 
of 1846 went into operation,] shall be subject to no other rate of duty upon the en- 
try thereof than if the same were imported respectively after that day. ' ' Such was 
the provision of the tariff act itself; and it requires no financial wisdom to see 
that, during the four months which intervened between the passage of the act 
and the time when it went into operation, the entries of goods would be greatly 
reduced below the usual standard. Our merchants would not exhibit that 
shrewdness which has always been ascribed to them had they, not availed them- 
selves of this opportunity of saving some eight or ten per cent, on their impor- 
tations. They would delay their orders; or, if their vessels returned, they 
"would put their goods into the public stores, there to remain for a few weeks,- 
till the new tariff should take effect. This would greatly reduce the imports or 
entries, and consequently the revenue, during the autumn of 1846, and throw 
into the following quarter imports and revenue which did not properly belong 
to it. The Secretary himself has furnished us evidence of this fact. In one 



11 

of the tables appended to his report, which is valuable, as it furnishes evidence 
to confute his own fallacies, he informs us that the revenue in the months of 
October and November, 1846, was only $1,688,480; while in October and No- 
bember, 1847, it amounted to $4,400,000; showing a balance in favor of the 
latter period of $2,71 1,520. This shows most conclusively that the goods 
which usually come into the country in the autumn were either kept back or 
were not brought into the market till after the 1st of December, when the re- 
duced duties took effect. It further appears, by the table of the Secretary, 
that the importations, and, consequently, the revenue of the quarter ending 
September 30, 1846, were materially reduced by the passage of the tariff of 
July of that year. The revenue for that quarter was only $6,153,826; while 
the average revenue for the same quarters for the two preceding years was 
$9,867,825; showing a falling off of $3,713,999 from the average. This faU- 
ing off in the revenue of the September quarter, and of the months of October 
and November, 1846, can be accounted for on no other principle than the effect 
of the tariff of that year. And yet, with these facts before them, the Presi- 
dent of the United States, and his free-trade Secretary, came before the coun- 
try with a comparison of the year ending December 1, 1846, and the year 
ending December 1, 1847, as containing a just illustration of the two tariff 
systems; a comparison, the fallacy of which must be obvious to the most su- 
perficial observer. 

I have already shown that, with an increased importation of $35,466,788- 
above the average of the three preceding years, the revenue of 1847 had fallen 
more than $3,000,000 below the average of those years; and that if the tariff 
of 1842 had been in operation during the year 1847, with the same importa- 
tions, we should have realized a nett revenue of more than $36,000,000; 
showmg a loss by the tariff of 1846 of more than $12,000,000. But the Sec- 
retary ascribes this increased importation to the reduction of duties. That the 
reduction of duties might contribute in some small degree to the increased im- 
portation, I am ready to admit; but that this is the principal cause, no man 
acquainted with the subject can believe for a single moment. The simple fact 
that our increased export consisted almost entirely of provisions, shows us the 
true cause of our augmented imports and exports; and, unless the tariff of 1846 
had power over the seasons, and actually scattered blight, mildew, and famine 
from its wings, it had but little to do with our increased export for the last 
year. But, notwithstanding these plain and palpable facts, the Secretary in- 
forms us that the export of domestic products, exclusive of gold and silver, 
in 1847, exceeded that of 1846 by more than forty-eight per cent.; and he has 
given us a table carrying this increase up to 1850, at which period our export 
will reach $488,445,056! I have no disposition to disturb these pleasing 
dreams of the honorable Secretary; but I believe that he is the only man, even 
in the present Administration, who would parade such visionary speculations 
in an official document. 

I have, Mr. Chairman, thus far confined myself mainly to the receipts and 
expenditures of the past and present fiscal years. But, as we are now called 
upon to provide for the next fiscal year, it may be well to look into futurity, 
and ascertain, as\vell as we may, what will be the probable expenditure for the 
next year. We have the estimate of the Secretary of the Treasury, covering 
those of the different Departments, and it seems peculiarly fortunate that he is 
able to reduce the expenditures very much in proportion to the increase of the 
force called out. We have already seen the actual expense for the year end- 
ing June 30, 1847, and the estimated expenditures for 1848; and I will now 
call your attention to the estimates for the year ending June 30, 1849, and that 
they may be seen at a glance, I will place them together: 



12 

Actual expenditures for the year ending June 30, 1847, $59,451,177 

Estimated " " " '' 1848, 58,615,660 

Estimated " " " " 1849, 55,644,941 

It will be seen that Mr. Walker's estimated expenditures are based on a slid- 
ing scale, similar to the British corn laws, where the duty is reduced with the 
increase of the price. Our force in the field is constantly increasing; and yet 
our estimated expenditures are reduced from year to year, the cost of the ser- 
vice for 1849 being $3,806,236 less than the actual expenditures for 1847, 
though the force is much greater. Such is the picture presented to us by the 
official documents. But every man who will take the trouble to examine the 
subject, will be satisfied that the estimate for the present and for the next fiscal 
year is altogether too low. There appears to be a systematic attempt on the 
part of the Executive department to reduce the estimates to the lowest possible 
point; not, however, as it would seem, from a conviction that the sum estima- 
ted will meet the wants of the service, but with a knowledge that if greater ex- 
penses are incurred. Congress cannot refuse to make appropriations to pay just 
debts. I speak advisedly when I make this remark. 

Agreeably to law and usage, the officers of the different bureaus make out 
their estimates for the coming year, and submit them to the head of the Depart- 
ment. These estimates for the next fiscal year have undergone an unusual 
degree of pruning. In confirmation of this, I will state a fact which will illus- 
trate the principle, and show the reliance which may be placed upon the esti- 
mates. The Quartermaster General, on the 4th of November, submitted to the 
Secretary of War an estimate of expenditures in his department for the next 
fiscal year. The Secretary returned the estimates, with a request that they be 
reduced. The Quartermaster General complies with his request, and on the 
15th of November submits his revised estimates, saying he has made "con- 
siderable reductions." He says, however, that his first estimates "were made 
out from data derived from the experience of the last year." He then adds, 
"whether these reductions be judicious, time must determine. I would not 
have ventured to make thein, but for the fact that two sessions of Congress 
wiU have terminated before the expiration of the fiscal year for which the es- 
timates now submitted, have been made. The sums asked for arrearages for 
the present fiscal year are not more, I am persuaded, than will be required." 

Here, sir, it will be seen that the Quartermaster General, in his second esti- 
mates, virtually admits that they are too low — lower than the service, in his 
opinion, will justify. In fact, he was so well persuaded that his estimates were 
t:oo low, that he says he would not have ventured to make them, but for the fact 
that he could come in at the next session, and ask for additional appropriations. 
The Committee of Ways and Means, being desirous of obtaining all the infor- 
mation requisite to a proper understanding of the subject on wiiich they were 
called to act, addressed a note to the Secretary of War, asking him for the ori- 
ginal estimates of the Quartermaster General. When the original estimates 
were sent us, we found that it was literally true that he had made "consider- 
able reductions." And what do you suppose, Mr. Chairman, they were? How 
much do you suppose was cut off.' I will tell you: the modest little sum of 
$7,901,200! But he does it under protest, declaring that he believes it will be 
wanted, as he founded his estimates upon the experience of the last year. 

Again, sir: the Secretary of the Navy gives us an estimate of $10,905,558; 
but, after this estimate had been in the hands of the committee some six weeks, 
the Secretary of the Navy comes forward and informs us that we can reduce 
the estimate $1,500,000, without any detriment to the pubhc service. And 
what reason does the honorable Secretary offer in support of this reduction? 
What new discovery had he made? Why, he had discovered just what he 
must have known when he made his estimates — that certain unexpended bal- 



13 

ances would come over from the last year. But would he reduce the actuaF 
expenditure by this means? Not in the least. It would show less on paper; 
but, whether the $1,. 500, 000 were drawn from the Treasury under the law of 
last year or this, the sum would be the same, and the means must be provided 
in the one case as much as in the other. 

I have stated these facts, not because I am opposed to reduction, but because 
I am opposed to imposition. 1 have stated them to show that there is a syste- 
matic attempt to make the appropriations as small as possible. I do not believe 
that reducing the appropriations will reduce the expenditures, on the whole, 
one mill. I am perfectly satisfied that there is a great unwillingness on the 
part of the Executive to have the enormous expenditures of this war known at 
the present time. But the President does not wish to be behindhand in the 
good work of retrenchment, or to be outdone by his Secretaries, and 
consequently he comes in and proposes to cut off the paltry sum of 
$18,500 from the grants made to the poor Indians for the purposes of 
education! In several of the treaties made with the different tribes, there 
is a provision that certain sums shall be paid to them annually, at the 
pleasure of the President, for their education and civilization. The different 
denominations of Christians who support their missionaries among these tribes, 
have received from the Government a portion of these funds, which they ex- 
pend for schools among the tribes, and account to this Government for the man- 
ner in which it is expended. The Presbyterians, I am informed, expend two 
dollars of their own money, for purposes of education, for every dollar they 
receive from the Government; the Baptists expend about one dollar of their 
funds for every dollar they receive from the public Treasury; and the Metho- 
dists, who always act as pioneers in every good enterprise, expend their money 
in aiding the Government to instruct these unfortunate children of the forest.. 
And while these heralds of peace and salvation are willing to spend and be 
spent in the glorious cause of civilizing the untutored savages, and opening to 
their dark and benighted minds the glories of immortality, the President of the 
United States comes forward, and, taking advantage of a clause in the treaties 
in which a confidence is reposed in him, proposes to strike out these small appro- 
priations granted to them for a valuable consideration. The Executive of a 
people calling themselves Christian, appears to be unwilling that the ministra- 
tion of life should be dispensed among the savages in our own country; he 
wants the money to dispense the ministration of death among the savages in 
Mexico. He wants all the resources of this country to convert, sword in hand, 
the wretched hordes of Mexico, not to Christianity, but to citizens of the Uni- 
ted States — a nation w^hich has spread slaughter through their country, and 
treated them, as they believe, with the greatest injustice. 

Here, Mr. Chairman, a question naturally arises, why the Administration 
wish at the present time to reduce the appropriations? Their motives are in 
their own breasts. I am satisfied of the fact, for they have revealed it; but 
they have not disclosed the motive. But, being a Yankee, I shall claim the 
prerogative of a Yankee, and gteess the reason. An important election is ap- 
proaching, and the Administration do not wish to have the troublesome ques- 
tion of the expenses of the war brought before the people in the next Presiden- 
tial contest. They know that, before we shall assemble here again, that ques- 
tion will have been decided one way or the other, and that, at that time, they 
may safely come forward and ask us to appropriate, not fourteen millions of dol- 
lars to supply deficiencies, but thrice that sum. This is my solution of that ques- 
tion; and if any friend of the President on this floor thinks me uncharitable, I 
will ask him whether he had not a little rather that theae heavy appropriations 
should be put off till the next session. I know he had. If he is frank and 
•andid, he will admit it. 



14 

But, sir, all these artful attempts to blind the eyes of the people will not 
avail. The note of alarm shall be sounded, and the people shall know the fraud 
that is attempted to be played off upon them. The estimates that are presented 
are beyond all question too low; and if this miserable war continues, we shall 
find it so. That we may see what demands the Administration are making upon 
the tax -payers of this country, I will present a statement of what they ask, di- 
rectly, and by implication. 

They ask us to appropriate certain specific sums, and these sums will involve 
others which are not specified; and these incidental expenses will increase 
with the continuance of the war. The deficiencies for this year are already 
ascertained to be more than $14,000,000, and it M'ill be perfectly safe to set 
down the deficiencies for the next year at $16,000,000. The account, then, 
will stand thus : 

Appropriations asked for _ . . . $55,644,941 

Appropriations to supply deficiencies for this year - 14,220,040 

Deficiencies for next year . . . . 16,000,000 



$85,864,981 

Here we have direct and tangible appropriations for $85,864,900 in round 

numbers. But this is not all: they ask us to grant them ten new regiments of 

regulars, which cannot be enhsted, transported to Mexico, and supported there 

for a year, judging from the expenses of the past, short of $9,000,000. Then 

they ask for authority to call out twenty regiments of volunteers, which, as it may 

in some degree save the expense of recruiting, I will set down at $17,500,000. If 

we comply with the request of the Executive, and grant him all the force he asks, 

and this force should be called into service, the account would stand as follows: 

Appropriations as above - . . _ $85,864,981 

Ten new regiments of regulars - - - - 9,000,000 

Twenty regiments of volunteers _ . . 17,500,000 



$112,364,981 
Here, sir, we have the round sum of $112,000,000, and who will say that 
this statement is exaggerated.' Let the whole force now asked for be called 
out, and let the regiments now in the field be filled up, and every dollar of this 
sum will be required. There are also several sources of expenditure which 
have not been taken into this account, and which will be constantly increasing. 
If we go on borrowing money, the interest on the public debt will make no 
inconsiderable sum. The pension list will be constantly increasing, and before 
the end of the year the numerous private claims for injuries sustained in and 
by the war will begin to come in, and the scrip which the discharged soldiers 
will receive instead of their land bounty will be in the character of a public 
debt, on which interest must be paid. The exhausted arsenals must be replen- 
ished, and a thousand other charges incident to war must be taken into the 
account. The incidental expenses of the Florida war, nor the war of 1812, 
nor even the war of the Revolution, are as yet all ascertained; so some of the ex- 
penses of this Mexican war will remain unpaid for half a century. 

And while these enormous appropriations are asked for, and this vast amount 
is to be expended in a foreign country, but very little regard is paid to the inte- 
rests of our own. While the Executive is wasting millions to destroy property 
abroad, he denies to Congress the right of saving property at home; while he 
is slaughtering Mexican soldiers, he will not allow us to save the lives of 
American seamen. When bills are passed to improve our harbors jand rivers, 
to save the property of our citizens and the lives of our seamen, the President 
turns round and tells us that we have no right to improve our own country, or 
save the lives of our own people. 



15 

Now, sir, in view of our present financial condition, what is the duty of the 
Administration? To go on borrowing money, and so entail upon our posterity 
a heavy national debt? No policy can be more unwise. Every generation, as 
far as possible, should bear its own buraens and pay its own debts. Our coun- 
try is amply able to support a war on any reasonable scale, and they will do it 
cheerfully, if they believe the war to be just and necessary. Why, then, do 
not the Administration come out at once and recommend taxation? Our tariff 
can be so modified as to give ten or twelve millions of revenue more than we are 
now receiving, and at the same time protect our own labor, stimulate our own 
industry, and develop our own resources. This is what every enlightened 
statesman would recommend. And then we should impose a direct tax, appor- 
tioned among the States agreeably to the principles of the Constitution. But, 
while our expenses are increasing, the Administration take no measures to 
increase our revenue; recommend nothing but a paltry tax upon tea and coffee. 
And why do they pursue this narrow, this cowardly policy? The Democracy, 
in their conventions, declare that//-ee trade and direct taxation are the basis of 
their theory. Why, then, do not the Administration come out and recommend 
direct taxes at once? The money will be needed. Fifty millions, in addition 
to all our ordinary revenue, will not be sufficient to carry us to the close of the 
next fiscal year. And why, I ask again, does not the President direct his fiscal 
agent, the Secretary of the Treasury, to ask for a direct tax of $50,000,000? 

The reason is obvious. He knows that, the moment the people are called 
upon in this manner to support the war, they will begin to inquire more fully 
into its character, and the object for which it is prosecuted, and that such an 
inquiry would end in his own condemnation. He knows, too, that those States 
which are the most clamorous for the war, would be totally unable to pay their 
portion of the tax. I have apportioned fifty millions among the several States, 
agreeably to the federal basis, which I will present to the committee : 

Jin apportionment of fifty millions xipon the several States, agreeably to the constitutional basis. 

Maine 7 representatives P,535,088 

New Hampshire 4 do 877,193 

Vermont 4 do 877,193 

Massachusetts 10 do 2,192,982 

Rhode Island 2 do 438,597 

Connecticut 4 do 877,193 

New York 34 do 7,456,140 

New Jersey 5 do 1,096,492 

Pennsylvania 24 do 5,263,158 

Delaware 1 do 219,298 

Maryland 6 do 1,315,790 

Virginia 15 do.. 3,289,474 

North Carolina 9 do 1,973,684 

South Carolina 7 do 1,535,088 

Georgia 8 do 1,754,386 

Alabama 7 do 1,535,088 

Mississippi 4 do 877,193 

Louisiana 4 do 877,193 

Ohio 21 do 4,605,263 

Kentucky 10 do 2, 192,983 

Tennesse'e 11 do 2,412,280 

Indiana 10 do 2,192,983 

Illinois 7 do •• . 1,535,088 

Missouri 5 do 1,096,490 

Arkansas 1 do 219,298 

Michigan 3 do 657,895 

Florida 1 do 219,298 

Texas 2 do 438,597 

Iowa 2 do 438,597 



'/ 



228 $50,000,000 



16 

How would the Democracy of the Keystone State be pleased with the idea 
of paying $5,263,000? Could they inscribe that upon their banners, and fight 
as manfully as they did under the bai^per of "Polk, Dallas, and the TariiF of 
1843?" What Avould the warlike gentleman from Mar3dand say to a tax of 
$1,315,000, in addition to the burdens they are now called to bear? What 
opinion of the war would be entertained by the good people of Alabama, if it 
was brought home to them by a tax of $1,535,000 in a single year? Illinois 
would not find it exactly convenient to pay $1,535,000, nor Indiana to pay 
$2,192,000, annually. The sum of $657,000 would, I apprehend, fail rather 
heavily upon Michigan, and $219,000 would remind Arkansas that the sinews 
of war were as troublesome as the war itself. The people of Texas Avould 
find the glory of the war a poor investment, when they were required to pay 
$438,000 as the purchase money. I might mention Mississippi and Florida, 
and several other States, upon whom this tax would be rather oppressive; but, 
as they are clamorous for the war, they ought to be willing to bear their share 
of the burden. Particularly should the Democracy of these States advocate 
direct taxation, because the}'' are in favor of the Avar, and of this mode of rais- 
ing the means. 

But, Mr. Chairman, the fact is, that neither the Administration, nor their 
friends upon this floor, dare recommend direct taxes. They know that the 
people in those States most clamorous for the war, would not sustain it for a 
single day, if they thought that they must come forward and pay their fair pro- 
portion of its burdens. If such a tax were imposed, we should be compelled 
to withdraw our army from Mexico, not only because we should not be able to 
support them there, but because they would be needed to suppress insurrec- 
tions which such a tax would produce. 

But this fact is a striking commentary upon the character of the war, and of 
the Administration which have wantonly involved us in it. The American 
people are not wanting in patriotism. They stand ready at all times to sustain 
the Government in war, whatever may be the amount of taxes, provided they 
believe the war to be just and necessary. The very fact that the Administra- 
tion dare not propose a direct tax, is a clear confession that they know the war 
is unpopular with the people. They know that they have plunged the nation 
into a war without just cause; and now they attempt to avoid the responsibility, 
and put off the day of reckoning, by throwing the burdens of this war upon 
those that come after them. Our fathers bestowed upon iis, their children, the 
rich inheritance of freedom; but the present Administration will, I fear, leave 
to their successors nothing but tarnished honor and a heavy national debt. 



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